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New chemicals shield 'genome guardian'

Cancer Research UK scientists have discovered a potent group of chemicals that protect p53 - a major anti-tumour gene - from destruction, a study published in Cancer Cell* today (Monday) reveals.

6 May 2008

Discovery of tenovins could lead to cancer cure

Scientists in Scotland have discovered a group of chemicals which protect one of the body's most important anti-cancer genes from destruction.

6 May 2008

Obesity and heart failure risk

Heart specialists at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere report what is believed to be the first wide-scale evidence linking severe overweight to prolonged inflammation of heart tissue and the subsequent damage leading to failure of the body's blood-pumping organ.

1 May 2008

Arsenic in baby rice puts children at risk

In what will be of great concern to many parents, scientists who have carried out a survey of arsenic levels in three common brands of rice-based baby foods say they have found that arsenic levels in the foods are too high.

30 Apr 2008

Silver nanoparticles may kill beneficial bacteria

Too much of a good thing could be harmful to the environment. For years, scientists have known about silver's ability to kill harmful bacteria and, recently, have used this knowledge to create consumer products containing silver nanoparticles.

29 Apr 2008

Scientists determine drug target for the most potent botulinum neurotoxin

Botulinum neurotoxin - responsible for the deadly food poisoning disease botulism and for the beneficial effects of smoothing out facial wrinkles - can also be used as a dreaded biological weapon. When ingested or inhaled, less than a billionth of an ounce can cause muscle paralysis and eventual death. Although experimental vaccines administered prior to exposure can inhibit the destructive action of this neurotoxin - the most deadly protein known to humans - no effective pharmacological treatment exists.

29 Apr 2008

ACTU says 1.5 million workers are exposed to cancer-causing chemicals

According to the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), exposure to cancer-causing substances at work threatens the health and well being of as many as 1.5 million Australians.

29 Apr 2008

Chocolate good for pregnant women

According to scientific research in the U.S. eating chocolate, especially dark chocolate, during pregnancy is good for mother and baby.

29 Apr 2008

Biomarkers identified for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

The first evidence of a distinctive protein signature that could help to transform the diagnosis and improve the monitoring of the devastating lung disease idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is being reported by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers in this month's edition of PLoS Medicine, an open-access journal of the Public Library of Science.

28 Apr 2008

Exercise helps lower heart disease risk in overweight women

The risk of heart disease in women associated with being overweight or obese is reduced but not eliminated by higher levels of physical activity, according to a report in the April 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

28 Apr 2008

Regulatory T cells orchestrate reaction to a virus invasion

Just as fire engines arrive quickly at the scene to save people and property, the cells that fight viruses have to reach the site of an infection promptly to mount a protective response.

24 Apr 2008

Hypertension all about what you eat and drink

Scientific research on human metabolism based on people from around the world has revealed compounds in urine indicate surprising differences affecting blood pressure.

20 Apr 2008

Surgery under hypnosis a pain-free event

A hypnotist in Britain has had surgery on his right hand without a general anaesthetic.

20 Apr 2008

Mistletoe therapy in oncology

For many people, mistletoe conjures up images of Christmas holidays, but in parts of Europe, mistletoe extract is widely used as a therapy for cancer patients. However, a new review of studies finds only weak evidence that the treatment provides any benefit.

17 Apr 2008

Scientists solve arsenic's cancer paradox

Cancer Research UK scientists have discovered how arsenic works as an effective treatment for leukaemia - according to a report in Nature Cell Biology.

15 Apr 2008

Cancer prevention

Tapping into a growing body of knowledge about the origins and progression of cancer, researchers are now developing and testing new preventive therapies to stop it in its tracks.

15 Apr 2008

Brain study may lead to improved epilepsy treatments

Using a rodent model of epilepsy, researchers found one of the body's own neurotransmitters released during seizures, glutamate, turns on a signaling pathway in the brain that increases production of a protein that could reduce medication entry into the brain.

15 Apr 2008

What we eat and drink affects our risk of cancer

A healthy diet and lifestyle protect against a wide range of diseases, and new research presented at the American Association for Cancer Research 2008 Annual Meeting, April 12-16, shows that cancer is no exception.

13 Apr 2008

Mosquito mating mechanism could lead to new attack on dengue and yellow fever

Cornell researchers have identified a mating mechanism that possibly could be adapted to prevent female mosquitoes from spreading the viruses that cause dengue fever, second only to malaria as the most virulent mosquito-borne disease in the tropical world.

11 Apr 2008

Researchers close in on origins of main ingredient of Alzheimer's plaques

The ability of brain cells to take in substances from their surface is essential to the production of a key ingredient in Alzheimer's brain plaques, neuroscientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have learned.

10 Apr 2008